'The Tony Mitchell Show' now playing in arenas throughout the SEC

Alabama's Tony Mitchell (5) smiles after dunking the ball early in the first half Saturday Jan. 29, 2011 at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (The Birmingham News / Hal Yeager)

TUSCALOOSA - Tony Mitchell is a big baby.

Those are his high school coach's exact words.

Just don't misunderstand what Swainsboro (Ga.) High School coach Leroy Jordan is saying about Alabama's blossoming basketball star.

"You could take Tony to a daycare center and he would act just like those little kids, and they would love him," Jordan said. "He would fit right in. That's how playful he is. ... When he can fit in at a playground to where he is now, it's unbelievable. There's that little kid in him."

Coleman Coliseum is Mitchell's playground now, and nobody seems to be having more fun than him on a team that has won 10 of its past 11 games while surging to the top of the Southeastern Conference.

"I just love the game of basketball," Mitchell said. "I just love to give it all I can, because I love the sport. I'll do whatever I can to win. It's a business to some people. To some people, it's a game."

It's an outlook that Jordan encourages.

"He makes the game fun," Jordan said. "I tell the kids all the time, 'If you're playing the game and you're not having fun, then you don't need to be out here.'"

Mitchell had a blast last week. The 6-foot-6, 210-pound sophomore forward scored a career-high 23 points in a victory over Mississippi State, then beat that with 24 points Saturday in an overtime victory at Tennessee. He leads the Crimson Tide (15-7, 7-1 in the SEC) team with 336 points (15.3 per game), 165 rebounds (7.5 per game) and 40 steals.

And his team-leading 41 dunks are nearly half of his team's total of 86.

Jordan has seen the repertoire. One hand. Two hands. Reverse. Windmill.

"He comes up with dunks that ... I don't know where he gets them from," Jordan said.

"We'd say, 'OK, let's see what he's going to do tonight. It's the Tony Mitchell Show.'"

It's now playing in the SEC, and the show will continue at 8 p.m. CST Thursday when Alabama visits No. 23 Vanderbilt (16-6, 4-4), but this is more than a high-flying act.

"Tony affected the game in a lot of ways other than his scoring," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said of Mitchell's recent performances. "He did a great job on the glass for us. He just seemed to make plays when they needed to be made."

Jordan saw potential in Mitchell early, but not always.

"He was a small kid," Jordan said. "Tony was having problems with his knees. We just felt like he was trying to grow. We thought he was going to be a sickly ol' boy, because he was hurting so bad. Eighth grade was a tough year for him healthwise.

"All of a sudden he got to ninth grade and he hit that growth spurt. He's been healthy ever since, jumping out of the gym. I just wish I had some more like him. I've had some good ones, but he's the best I've seen. He's a complete package."

Jordan plans to retire at the end of this season, his 24th year as Swainsboro's head coach.

"He's the only kid I've had that has an opportunity to make it to that next level," Jordan said. "He's been dreaming that dream ever since that kid stepped into high school. On Day One, he said, 'Coach, I want to play in the NBA.'"

Tim Fields, Mitchell's brother, played on Jordan's 1996 state championship team and earned a scholarship to Fort Valley State. With Mitchell, Swainsboro went no further than a Sweet 16.

"They're real close. They talk trash," Jordan said. "They ask me, 'Who's the best out of us.' I say, 'Tim won the state championship.' That's where I leave it.

"That has been a thorn in Tony's side. Tony says, 'You might have won a state championship, but I'm going to the NBA.'"